482 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



would at this time be mischievous and deplorable 

 a blow to the cause of temperance, and a disgrace to 

 the old Bay State ; while its vigorous and impartial 

 enforcement would win for it the respect of the com- 

 munity, and secure its perpetuity and final triumph. 



Resolved, That as in this State a nomination by the 

 dominant party is generally equivalent to an election, 

 and as the opponents of prohibition have shown a 

 disposition to attempt to control the great political 

 organizations, and by secret leagues to pack nomi- 

 nating conventions, they must be met in that direc- 

 tion, and it therefore becomes the duty_ of tem- 

 perance men to be present at such meetings, and 

 secure the nomination to seats in the Legislature of 

 men who are known to be prohibitionists, who can 

 neither be awed nor bribed; and every temperance 

 man is solemnly urged to be present at the town 

 or district conventions, or any other primary meet- 

 ing where his vote may decide who shall be his 

 representative in the next General Court. 



Resolved, That we consider the question of temper- 

 ance, in a national point of view, as second only to 

 that cause which has so long affected our general 

 policy ; and that, as the great work of emancipation 

 is perfected, we recognize the necessity of engrafting 

 the principle of prohibition upon all organizations 

 that shall continue to direct and control the country. 



The Republican State Convention, already 

 alluded to, met at the city of Worcester on the 

 12th of September, to nominate candidates for 

 the State offices to be filled at the election on the 

 first Tuesday of November. The Hon. Henry 

 "Wilson presided, and the convention proceeded 

 to nominate for reelection the entire board of 

 officers then in power, viz. : for Governor, Alex- 

 ander H. Bullock, of "Worcester ; for Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, William Claflin, of Newton ; for 

 Secretary of State, Oliver Warner, of North- 

 ampton ; for Treasurer and Receiver-General, 

 Jacob H. Lord, of Plymouth; for Attorney- 

 General, Charles Allen, of Boston ; for Audi- 

 tor of Accounts, Henry S. Briggs, of Pittsfield. 



The following resolutions were then adopted, 

 as expressing the views of the delegates on 

 matters of national interest: 



Resolved, That we regard the speedy restoration, 

 upon the principles of equal rights, of civil govern- 

 ments, wherever they were overthrown by the rebel- 

 lion, as of the highest importance to the nation, and 

 we approve the measures adopted by Congress at its 

 recent sessions to secure that desirable consumma- 

 tion. 



Resolved, That the conduct of President Andrew 

 Johnson, his fellowship with the foes of their coun- 

 try, who are plotting in peace for the success of the 

 conspiracy which failed in war ; his usurpation of 

 unlawful powers, as well as his flagrant abuse of 

 powers confided to him ; his persistent determination 

 to evade and defy the laws and defeat the will of the 

 people as declared in them ; his removal of faithful 

 cabinet and military officers for no other reason than 

 that they stood in the way of his 'hostile purposes ; 

 his deliberate and successful endeavors to continue 

 and aggravate disorder and insecurity of person and 

 property in Southern communities, resulting at times 

 in the massacres of innocent citizens all made more 

 conspicuous and painful by his perverse character 

 and his disregard of the proprieties of his high sta- 

 tion all render his continuance in office the constant 

 cause of the gravest anxiety, and make it imperative 

 to employ every constitutional mode of curbing and 

 resisting him, and, if necessary, to deprive him of all 

 power to harm. We, therefore, in behalf of the 

 people of Massachusetts, while declaring our appro- 

 val of the past measures of Congress to arrest the 

 career and defeat the plans of this dangerous and 



desperate man, pledge also to that body in the future 

 the fullest support in such constitutional measures as 

 in its wisdom it may find it necessary to resort to in 

 furtherance of the same end, even to the exercise of 

 its extraordinary power to remove from office this 

 destroyer of the public peace and this enemy of the 

 Government itself. 



Resolved, That we thank our Senators and Eepre- 

 sentatives in Congress for their resistance to the 

 usurpations of the President, and for their earnest 

 endeavors to establish justice, insure domestic tran- 

 quillity, and secure the blessings of liberty in the 

 territory which was deprived of civil governments by 

 the rebellion. 



Resolved, That our gratitude is due to the military 

 commanders, who have done all in their power within 

 their commands to restore order, initiate civil govern- 

 ments, and secure protection to citizens of every 

 race and party. 



Resolved, That it is appropriate, at this time, to 

 accord our tribute of grateful praise to the enfran- 

 chised masses of the South, whose fidelity to the 

 country, and whose just appreciation of their new du- 

 ties as citizens, confirm in peace their title to the good 

 name which their patience and valor won for them in 

 war. Their loyal votes having already secured good 



fovernments in the District ot Columbia and in the 

 tate of Tennessee, give promise that through their 

 aid the triumph of republican principles in the coun- 

 try is secure. 



Resolved, That time and continued peace ought 

 never to diminish our gratitude to the brave and true 

 men by whose courage and toils on land and sea the 

 rebellion was suppressed, and the country saved. It 

 is and will ever be our sacred duty to care for the 

 disabled survivors, and the families of the dead. 



The Democratic State Convention assem- 

 bled at Worcester on the 14th of October, and 

 organized by choosing Horatio G. Parker, of 

 Cambridge, for president. The platform of 

 the party, as represented in this convention, 

 was set forth in the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That each State in tl^ Union is free, 

 sovereign, and independent, and entitled to exercise 

 and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right which 

 is not expressly delegated to the General Government 

 in the Constitution of the United States. 



Resolved, That the burdens imposed on the people 

 through an absurd system of taxation and a vast ex- 

 penditure of money for the support of a corrupt and 

 extravagant administration of the General Govern- 

 ment, and to meet the expense of a large standing 

 army, demand our serious consideration and a speedy 

 reform, that taxation may fall equally upon property 

 and labor. 



Resolved, That those members of Congress who 

 have passed laws outside of, and in defiance of the 

 Constitution, for the purpose of subordinating the 

 civil to the military power, have trifled with the safe- 

 guards of justice, liberty, and peace, and are guilty 

 of perjury and usurpation. 



Resolved, That the real sympathy and regard of 

 the Eepublican party, for the soldiers who have so 

 bravely fought the "battles of the country, are to be 

 found "in the action of the Eepublican Senate of the 

 United States, which has refused to confirm the 

 nomination of any soldier to office, however faithful 

 and brilliant his services in the field, unless he voted 

 the ticket of the party. 



Resolved, That it is the imperative duty of this 

 Eepublic to afford ample protection to all its citizens, 

 whether native or adopted, and whether they choose 

 to remain at home or travel abroad ; that language 

 spoken within the limits of the United States is not 

 punishable in any other country ; that our citizens 

 arrested on suspicion and now suffering imprison- 

 ment in foreign countries, when no specific charge is 

 preferred against them, should be immediately dia- 



